Corneal Transplants Acceptance Rate Now About to Get a Boost

It is noted that 10 percent cases of corneal transplants, on an average, fail, and a second attempt is very rarely successful

It is noted that 10 percent cases of corneal transplants, on an average, fail, and a second attempt is very rarely successful.

This would soon change as scientists have now found a way to boost corneal transplants acceptance in patients.

Potential New Strategy to Improve Odds of Corneal Transplant Acceptance Identified
For ten percent of patients whose bodies reject a corneal transplant, the odds of a second transplant succeeding are poor.

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Centre discovered that corneal transplants in mice were accepted 90 percent of the time when the action of an immune system molecule called interferon-gamma (IFN) was blocked and when the mice shared the same major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genotype as the donor cornea.

MHC matching is not typically done with human corneal transplants because of a high acceptance rate.

"Our findings indicate that neither MHC matching alone nor administration of anti-IFN antibody alone enhances graft survival. However, we found that when MHC matching is combined with anti-IFN therapy, long-term corneal transplant survival is almost guaranteed," said Jerry Niederkorn, professor of ophthalmology and microbiology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study.

Donor Age may Not be a Factor in Most Corneal Transplants
A study says that a cornea from a 71-year-old donor is likely to remain as healthy as a cornea from a donor half that age even a decade after the transplant.

Lead author of the study was Khrishen Cunnusamy, a former postdoctoral researcher in Niederkorn's lab and current UT Southwestern medical student.

The study, appeared in American Journal of Transplantation, suggested an option to improve the odds of a subsequent corneal transplant's success for those patients whose first transplant was rejected.

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Donor Age Not a Factor for Corneal Transplants
According to a new study funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), the age of the donor is not a factor when it comes to corneal transplants

Rather than recommend transplant matching and inactivation of IFN for all first-time corneal transplant recipients, Niederkorn said this strategy would make most sense for those who have already rejected a cornea, or for those individuals believed to be at risk for a corneal transplant rejection.

"Before a clinical trial can be launched to verify the results obtained in mice, further study is needed," he added.